Mario in his workshop.
Mario Grech-Xerri
Mario has been tuning and modifying cars for over 25 years. His passion started while at school, in the 1970s, using local college facilities to produce racing components for Italian Fantic motorcycles – which he developed to produce a staggering 18,000rpm!
He then progressed to race-tuning the now classic Fiat and Alfa Romeo twin cam engines, moving from Gozo, Malta, to London to further his engineering knowledge and skills.
Today he specialises in Italian cars, whether for road or race use, under the banner of his company – Performance Cars.
Road Cars
High-performance Italian cars require specialist expertise when it comes to servicing, maintenance and modifications. But owners aren’t always so happy when it comes to paying the outrageous sums frequently charged by franchised networks.
Mario has always specialised in top-end production car marques and has the skills to offer a top-quality service, without charging unreasonable rates. His expertise goes well beyond simple service and maintenance: within the first year of the release of the Ferrari 360 Modena, for example, Performance Cars had already manufactured and installed engine upgrades resulting in significant power improvements.
Race Cars
With a customer base built on the construction and modification of a wide variety of power plants, from fast road engines through to full-blown racers, Performance Cars has an extensive competition history.
Mario has personally prepared race cars for a huge range of club championships,
right through to top-level sports cars for the British GT Championship.
He also works under contract as a freelance consultant and tester for
independent racing teams across Europe.